Officer manifesto update 

 

As the leadership race is just around the corner, you might be wondering how the current officer team were doing on the Manifesto items that influenced you to vote for them this time last year:  

 

Joseph's manifesto progress  

Bringing opportunities from London to everyone. 

I helped start and run the Beacon C2 cybersecurity event in London. Students were free to attend, and the talks are available online. 

I pushed for a quiet room, which was implemented on the London campus. I can use this to push for one to be implemented in Stoke.  

Increasing campus accessibility/access hours 

I am working with Leah to create a report detailing what areas of accessibility within the University need improvement. 

Creating industry networking and employment opportunities 

Over the past few months, I've been creating connections at networking events and linking them with the University to improve their services and share best practices. For example, co-working at the Red Bull Office hours enabled me to make connections who now want to come onto campus and do talks for our students. 

There was also the Good Game Dev Club, which some other students and I attended to build our contact portfolios and find industry speakers for the University.  

I've also done an IntoGames sprint, for which I am writing a testimonial, to promote the offer to our London students. 

 

Faran's manifesto progress  

Anonymous Marking  

Progress Summary  

I have drafted the Principles for Anonymous Marking, which have already been shared with reps, and the feedback received has been evidenced. We have also completed the BSF (Big Student Feedback) survey for Anonymous Marking. Feedback from Executive Deans and Associate Deans is very positive. We are just waiting for the right time to present it to the University.  

Challenges or Blockers  

•             There are no significant blockers, but there is a potential concern that the BSF results could pose a challenge. Some feedback suggests that students are unaware of this initiative and how it could benefit them.  

•             Another challenge is determining whether the current digital team can support it. We need to discuss this with the TILE team.  

Student Success Module  

Progress Summary  

The Student Success Module was initially planned as an optional module in collaboration with the Careers team. They expressed concerns about implementing it as a structured module during a meeting. They believe that career success cannot be taught through a single module and that maintaining and updating the content would require additional resources each year.  

Instead, the Careers team suggested that efforts should be directed toward promoting career services rather than creating a module. They aim to increase student appointments and engagement, ensuring more students access personalised career support.  

Challenges  

•             Resource limitations: The Careers team lacks the capacity to manage and update the module each year.  

•             Broad scope of student needs: Students come from different disciplines, making it challenging to create a one-size-fits-all module.  

•             Professional guidance concerns: The Careers team emphasised that career advice should come from professionals, rather than a generalised module.  

•             Shifting focus from a module to a service: The challenge is redesigning the initiative to align with the Careers team's expectations while still providing structured student support.  

Planning Next Steps for the Rest of the Year  

•             Re-evaluating the approach: Looking at whether career support can be embedded in existing student services or academic modules rather than creating a standalone module.  

•             Collaborating with the Careers team to promote career services more effectively and drive student engagement.  

•             Exploring other universities' models to see how career development is integrated into student learning.  

Virtual Collab Hub  

Progress Summary  

The initial vision for the Virtual Collaboration Hub was to develop a social collaboration platform for students. This would have provided a space where students could engage, share resources, and access a centralised repository for academic and extracurricular collaboration.  

However, after discussions in the DTB (Digital Transformation Board) and considering the post-TOM (Target Operating Model) effects, it has become clear that this initiative cannot be implemented. The project requires significant funding and resources, which are not feasible given the University's position and priorities.  

Challenges  

•             High resource and funding requirements make this project unachievable within the current university framework.  

•             The university's strategic focus does not align with this initiative at present.  

•             Technical and administrative constraints would make long-term maintenance difficult.  

Decision  

Given these challenges, I have discontinued work on the Virtual Collaboration Hub. It would not be worth investing time and energy into a project with no realistic path forward.  

Diversity Dialogues  

Progress Summary  

The Diversity Dialogues initiative aimed to foster inclusivity and understanding within our university community. Efforts have been made to engage committees and student groups to participate in or facilitate these events. Initially, the plan was to launch the program during the January re-welcome period; however, this was not feasible due to scheduling conflicts and other commitments. Despite outreach, there has been a lack of volunteers supporting the initiative. Consideration is now being given to organising the event later in the year or potentially re-evaluating its implementation.  

Challenges  

•             Lack of Volunteer Engagement: Despite approaching various committees and student groups, there has been minimal interest in volunteering for the initiative.  

•             Scheduling Conflicts: A busy schedule and other engagements hindered the initial plan to integrate Diversity Dialogues into the January re-welcome period.  

•             Resource Constraints: Limited resources may impact the ability to plan and execute the events effectively.  

Hybrid Learning  

Progress Summary  

Last year's lobbying around timetabling successfully introduced more flexibility, which has benefited most students. However, some complaints persist, and I am working on resolving those on a case-by-case basis.  

At this stage, Hybrid Learning has already been embedded to some extent, and further lobbying is not feasible as the University is prioritising commercialisation due to a decline in on-campus student presence. This shift in focus presents challenges for maintaining hybrid learning principles, as the University aims to increase physical attendance to support campus sustainability. It is already complete, but not consistent within the University. 

 

Precious's manifesto progress  

As we move further into the year, I'm excited to share the progress made on key manifesto commitments. While some areas continue to evolve, we've seen significant achievements in student support, engagement, and community-building. 

Enhancing Support Services 

Supporting students effectively remains a priority, and progress continues despite some challenges: 

• TOM has impacted the initial initiative, but we are working to mitigate these effects. 

• Monthly meetings with key service leads are ongoing to improve student access to support. 

• Increase promotion of "Front Door" to student services through Beacon. 

• Working closely with Leah to enhance available student support resources. 

• Plans are underway for a video project to better communicate what services are available to students. 

Engagement & Representation 

Student representation remains a core focus, ensuring student voices are heard across the University: 

• Ghanaian and Social Work student support has been a key area of advocacy. 

• Successfully secured Student Connect letters, allowing students to work full-time during university holidays. 

• Continued work on timetabling improvements alongside the university team. 

• Rep Hub wins & celebrations are planned to recognise and empower student reps. 

• The Staffs100 reboot is in progress, aligning with Better Staffs to enhance student engagement. 

• I facilitated the officers' meeting with the local MP for the Renters' Rights bill in collaboration with NUS. Though the main focus of "No Guarantor for Students " has yet to be implemented, it is good to look back and see how much this movement has achieved. 

Community Building & Social Events 

Creating a vibrant and inclusive student community has been a significant success: 

• The International Event was a resounding success, celebrating cultural diversity on campus. 

• Despite structural changes, the Ramadan, Diwali, and Christmas events remain a priority. 

• Meeting with the new events team to align future social initiatives with student needs. 

• Continuing to utilise Rep Hub to drive student involvement in events and activities. 

Skills Development Workshops 

Providing students with essential skills for personal and academic growth: 

• A workshop is scheduled for March, aiming to provide valuable insights and training. 

• The goal is to engage 30-50 students to maximise impact and participation. 

Other Things We're Working On: 

Students' Union Visibility & Accessibility 

• We've been working to increase officer presence on campus so students can easily reach us. 

• Looking at ways to make SU services more accessible to all students, including those at placements and on different campuses. 

Greater Officer Visibility at Stafford 

• Increased presence and engagement at the Stafford campus. 

Support for Students on Placements 

• Stafford coordinator Jess will begin placement visits with plans for broader engagement. 

• Ensuring team visits to placements for a stronger support network. 

• Implementing early intervention strategies to support students before issues arise (Know Your Student Rights campaign). 

International Students Support 

• Successfully secured term-time work confirmation, similar to the Social Work victory, but for all students. 

I'm also working towards influencing the University to create more straightforward academic calendars, ensuring students have well-defined expectations. 

 

Leah's manifesto progress    

As part of my original manifesto, I promised to work with our services to make them more accessible and easier to find for students so that you could get help when and where you need it.  

We've worked with our services throughout the year to see how we can work alongside them to create a services promotion campaign and have had input into the Front Doors project. Front Doors tie in with one of my aims: to have each service accessible in the same place. An early version of Front Doors is now live through Beacon. You can now find all the services the University offers students through Beacon's Contact Us page! We should have some of our content coming soon, promoting our services and showing the variety of ways you can interact with them while at Staffs. 

We have lobbied this year for transparency in communication with students, which has been especially important considering the University's recent restructuring. Although we were unsuccessful in lobbying for student input into the restructure, we could feed in a student perspective to ensure all the thoughts and opinions we heard from you are considered. I've also been involved in discussions with staff relating to the communications that will be put out to students in the future, particularly relating to how they can make them relevant and accessible to students. While this isn't something that can be done in the short term, this will hopefully remain an open conversation for future officer teams to feed into. 

The main focus of my manifesto was on 24/7 and remote access to space and facilities. Although this hasn't been accomplished yet, we're headed in the right direction. Joseph and I have been working hard on a Campus Access report – compiling all the concerns our student body has brought forward through the years around their ability to access resources they need for their course to present to the University and show the bigger picture. I've also fed back into course teams around more resource-sharing across departments, which should hopefully mean some students can access facilities they previously couldn't to complete their work in the future.